Method of cutting fur or the like



Nov. 23, 1943.

A. L. DILLER ETAL. 2,335,145 METHOD OF CUTTING FUR OR THE LIKE FiledDec. 3, 1942 A? I 1 I7 A? .JY/Mfi z im/EL has/Es .5 '[52'722017 PatentedNov. 23, 1943 arren METHQE) GE CUTTING FUR 01% THE MIKE Alv n L. miller,Lexington, and Charles A. Carneron, llilalden, Mass .assignors to The B.F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Merr ll or}:

This invention relates to a method and device for cutting fur and thelike and is especially use ful for cutting patterned elements from a furpelt for use in linin articles of footwear and for similar purposes.

Many articles of footwear, such as the aviators boot shown in 5, arelined with sheep skin or fur to provide warmth and comfort. Such liningscustomarily are provided by cutting several patterned elements from thefur pelt and then securing these elements in the footwear structure withtheir contiguous edges substantially in abutting relation. It is highlydesirable that the seams or joints between the abutting fur elementsshould not be apparent to an observer. Because of this requirement, ithas been necessary heretofore to cut out the lining elements by hand,since conventional machine-cutting methods, as with a conventionalknife-edged die, serve to cut the hair as well as the leather of the furso that a considerable quantity of the fur hair was removed along thecut edge. When two pieces of fur cut in this manner are joined inabutting relation a distinct V-shaped channel is apparent in the furalong the seam.

The present invention provides for machine cutting of fur elementswithout substantially cutting the hair so that two of the resultingelements may be abutted together to produce a seam which is entirelyinvisitle when viewed from the hair side of the fur. This isaccomplished by utilizing a die or other cutting member having aserrated fur-engaging edge. The serrations are so arranged andproportioned that the leather is merely perforated along a line withoutcompletely severing the leather or cutting any substantial amount of thehair. Then, the leather is torn along the line of perforation tocomplete the severance. The entire outline of the desired element may becut in this manner or, as is frequently desirable, a portion may be cutin the manner described, while another portion of the outline issimultaneously cut with a conventional knife edge effecting completeseverance of the leather and also cutting of the hair. Such combinationof the two types of cutting is useful for example in cutting quarterlining elements of fur for a boot. In such lining elements the top edgeordinarily is covered with a binding so that cutting of the hair is notobjectionable, but in fact desirable, while a side edge extending downthe back of the boot will abut a similar quarter lining element so thatcutting the hair along this line is highly undesirable in the interestof providing an invisible seam.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawing of which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cutting die embodying our invention,the die being one designed for cutting quarter lining elements for anaviators boot;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevatiohal view of a conventional clicking press with afur pelt in place on the press table and the die of 'ig. l in place onthe pelt ready for cutting;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the pelt after the cutting operation andshowing the step of tearing the leather along the line of perforation.

Fig. 5 is a perspective low of an article of footwear such as anaviators boot lined with sheep skin elements cut in accordance with theinvention, the hair having been cut away in the region of the seam.

Fig. 6 is a View showin in cross section the joint between two forlements cut in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of a modified form of die structure alsoembodying th invention.

A cutting die l0 designed for cutting quarter lining elements foraviators boots and typically embodying our invention is illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2. The die it conveniently may comprise a strip of springsteel ll bent in accordance with the trapezoidal outline of the desiredquarter lining element. For support, the strip I! may be bolted to awooden frame E2 in accordance with usual die-making practice. One of theprojecting edges of the strip H, such as the edge is, is provided with asharp knife edge. The other three projecting edges, it, it, and is arehowever, provided with serrations H, ll, the serrations being soarranged that only the serrations pierce the leather of the fur duringthe cutting operation. Thus, the serrations are sharply pointed, whilethe intervening crotches are intentially left dull and incapable ofcutting the leather or hair. Also, the individual serrations preferablyare substantially greater in length than the distance between adjacentserrations. It will be appreciated that serrations so arranged willproduce a closely perforated line capable of being readily torn in muchthe same manner that ordinary perforated paper is torn.

To cut a quarter lining element from a sheep skin or other pelt it, thepelt is placed on the table id of a conventional clicking press 2i! withthe hair side of the pelt toward the top of the table, that is, with theleather side exposed. The cutting die It] is then placed in positionwith the cutting edges in contact with the exposed leather of the fur.The clicking press arm 2| is then swung into position over the die andthe press is operated, in the customary manner, to force the die intothe pelt.

During the cutting operation, the serrated edges of the die pierce theleather but do not cut the hair and consequently form lines ofperforation as shown more clearly in Fig. 4. At the same time, the knifeedge l3 of the die severs the fur completely, cutting both the leatherand the hair along this edge. The numerals I30, I40, I50, and H50indicate the margins of the fur cut by the die cutting edges bearingcorresponding numerals. The fur is then grasped along the completelysevered edge I30 and the leather is torn by pulling along the perforatedlines as illustrated in Fig. 4 toproduce the lining element 22.

The lining element 22 is then embodied in an aviators boot 23 shown inFig. 5, the knife-cut margin 13a of the element extending along the topedge of the boot while the serration-cut margin 560 extends down theback of the boot where it abuts with a similarly cut margin of a secondquarter lining element 22a. As shown in the drawing the seam between theelements 22 and 22a is entirely invisible to an observer.

The invisible character of a seam between two pieces of fur which havebeen serration cut in accordance with the invention is perhaps moreclearly shown in the cross-sectional view of Fig. 6.

The principles of the present invention are adaptable to various typesof die structures. For example, the invention may be embodied in themodified form of die shown in Fig. '7. This die comprises a ring-likestructure 25 made of tool steel or other suitable material and having asharp knife edge along three sides, 26, 21, and 28 of the die while thefourth side 29 is provided with serrations of the character previouslydescribed. The back edges of the die member are generally flat forengagement with the clicking press arm.

The present invention has facilitated greatly the cutting of fur liningelements for footwear.

Machine-cutting operations have been substituted for the hand-cuttingoperations previously considered necessary. As a result, substantialsavings in time, labor, and expense have been realized. Also, materialimprovements in quality of the products have been achieved through moreefficient and uniform cutting of the fur elements.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail withparticular reference to the cutting of patterned lining elements fromsheep skin for use in footwear, it will be understood that the inventionis by no means limited to such use and that it may be employed incutting furs of any type and for a wide variety of uses. Consequently,it will be understood that the terms fur, hair, and leather have beenused in their broader sense to include various types of fur whether thehair be woolly or more filamentary in character. Similarly numerousmodifications and variations in details of the structures and procedureshereinabove described may be effected without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The method of cutting fur or the like which comprises closelyperforating the leather of the fur along a line without substantiallcutting the hair, and then tearing the leather along the line ofperforations.

2. The method of cutting a patterned element of fur or the like from apelt or similar sheet, which comprises closely perforating the leatherof the fur along a. portion only of the outline of the desired elementwithout substantially cutting the hair along said portion,simultaneously severing completely the leather along another portion ofthe outline of the desired element, and then tearing the leather alongthe aforesaid line of perforation.

3. The method of cutting from a pelt or the like a patterned element offur such as a lining element for an article of footwear in which an edgeportion of the said element will abut an edge portion of another furelement, said method comprising closely perforating the leather of thefur along the abutting edge portion without substantially cutting thehair along said portion, simultaneously severing completely the leatheralong another edge portion of the element, the aforesaid perforating andsevering being performed in a single die-cutting operation, and thentearing the leather along the aforesaid line of perforation.

ALVIN L. DILLER. CHARLES A. CAMERON.

